


The Red

by Femvamp



Category: Dexter (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Pre-Season/Series 04, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-11-06
Packaged: 2018-04-27 12:38:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5048836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Femvamp/pseuds/Femvamp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Rita had found out Dexter's secret?  Takes place some time before Series 4 finale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title: The Red
> 
> Author: Femvamp
> 
> Fandom: Dexter
> 
> Pairing: Dexter/Rita
> 
> Disclaimer: Dexter belongs to the dude who wrote the books, Showtime and other people who aren't me. Don't sue…also don't kill me. Really don't.

She had learned early on that life wasn't fair. The world wasn't the kind and magical place that she saw in movies. It didn't reward people who tried hard. It shunned those who were different. It was cruel and it was violent.

Rita had learned quickly not to go to her mother for a kind word because no matter how mean the world around her got, her mother was so much worse. Her mother might never have hit her but she also rarely hugged her. She just gave her that look of disapproval that sent shivers down her spine and filled her with such emptiness. Her mother spoke to her in that cold and impassive voice about the disappointment she had become and it made Rita feel small and insignificant.

She knew full well that there were plenty of children who had it worse. Children who were beaten and raped while her only complaint was that her mother didn't really want her. She wanted a special child and Rita was anything but special. She got good grades but they were never good enough. She brought home nice boys but they were never nice enough and her mother never seemed to think much of what they wanted from her.

It was enough to make Rita want to get away as fast as she could. She married young. Her first marriage lasted about as long as it took for him to take her virginity. Her mother would have been surprised that she had stayed a virgin until she had married him, however not so surprised that he left a short time later. The marriage had barely lasted six months and Rita was back home with a mother she hated and who hated her.

When she had met Paul Bennett she had thought she had finally found her knight in shining armor; a man who would love her and take her away from all the cruelty of life; and for awhile he did. It was only after the birth of Astor that he turned violent. Something in him changed when he became a father, or maybe he blamed her for having a girl instead of a boy, she never knew for sure but soon what started out as a tiny pot habit turned into a full on drug binge. Soon he came home high as a kite and looking for a fight. He turned on her so quickly. He became so mean; so cruel.

Rita had hoped that giving him a son would change things but he only became worse. Her life had become unmanageable. It had become so bad she had even considered going back home to her mother. If that wasn't a rock and a hard place then she didn't know what was. Her mother had only seen her children on a few occasions and Rita wasn't sure she wanted her to be a part of their lives. They were average like her and her mother hated average. Rita always tried to be supportive of her children while her own mother had put her down at every opportunity, However her mother had never brought home a man who beat her into unconsciousness and then….she didn't want to think of what Paul had done then, but there were mornings she had woken up sore in all the wrong places and knew exactly what he had done.

The day she had met Debra Morgan would later be categorized as one of the happiest days of her life. Yes, she had a big bruise…just about everywhere and yes she had just woken up once again feeling sore in places she wished she didn't, but this was the day she had finally had enough.

This was the day she had said stop.

This was the day she started to see the goodness in the world again. Debra Morgan had turned out to be a nice person and Rita had needed nice people in her life. More then that she had turned into a real friend; and later more then that, because she had introduced Rita to someone who would change her life forever.

She introduced Rita to her brother, Dexter.

A man who would open the world up to her again.

He wasn't perfect by any extent of the word. He was deeply flawed; then again so was she. When they had first met she had thought she had found the one good guy left in the world, but there were no good guys. No white knights. Dexter was more a dark horse, but he was her dark horse. Early on in their relationship he began using drugs (or so she thought then) and later cheated on her. However he chose her in the end; which no one had ever done before.

He chose her.

It turned out they had more in common then she had ever dreamed. They had both lived in a dark world for far too long. A world started when they were children. It was odd in a way, how two deeply broken people found each other and tried to live like normal people; but they weren't normal.

They had never been normal.

Maybe that was why Rita strived for normal so much; she knew deep down inside that something was deeply flawed in her. Maybe that was why she never said anything when her mother said those mean things to her or when Paul beat her until she was unconscious. She had thought she had deserved it. Deep down inside she had known about the dark part of her that she had promised herself she would never let out.

Because Rita was never a violent person.

Until the day she had walked in on Dexter killing a man. A man he called Trinity. And that's the day it began for her. She saw the red. She had known what it was, had seen it coming out of her own body on enough occasions, but now it enthralled her, and disgusted her all at once.

She wanted more.

She looked up at Dexter and then down at the now dead man lying there and wanted more. She wanted to see the red. She wanted to feel it. To smell it. She even wanted to taste it.

"Rita?" Dexter looked at her concerned.

It took her a moment to speak; a moment to take her eyes off the dead man lying there, but when she did she saw how concerned her husband was. She knew he had never expected her to be there watching this; seeing this. No one was supposed to see this.

No one.

But she did.

"Tell me everything."


	2. Chapter 2

Rita laid in bed and thought of her marriage, her entire relationship with Dexter. From the day they met Dexter had been the perfect gentleman. He had been just as Debra had described on the occasions she had talked him up. Rita had believed that there was no such thing as a good man and Debra had told her that her brother was one the best. She hadn't believed her at first but had eventually agreed to at least meet him, she'd had every intention to let him and Debra down easy but she really did believe that there was no man in the world for her.

To her surprise Dexter turned out to be everything Debra had said he was and more. He was perfect. In retrospect maybe too perfect, but she hadn't seen it then. He was kind, courteous, and most of all he didn't demand anything she didn't want to give. Rita hadn't enjoyed sex in a long time; not since Paul had started forcing himself on her and Dexter seemed to understand. He never pushed. He never made any demands, and best of all he seemed to genuinely like her…..and her kids.

For months the relationship remained platonic. They went on dates and they had a good time but that's where it ended. Then things began to change between them. That one day in the car after a date had ended early because Dexter had walked into a crime scene he had kissed her in a way that he had never kissed her before. It was full of need. He had wanted her; and she had wanted him. It had scared her to death.

Dexter had been cool about it though, the big elephant named Sex in the room. The stupid elephant that neither of them were ready for; at least that's what he told her. She had been convinced at that point that she had finally managed to score herself the one good guy left in the world. The one man who would never hurt her.

Until he did.

Paul had come back into hr life and had made demands. This time however she didn't give in to them, she had fought back. Having Dexter in her life had given her the strength to fight back and Paul ended up back in jail where he later died. He insisted he hadn't done what they said he had done but Rita was so happy to have him gone that she didn't ask questions; until he was dead. That's when the questions came. She needed to make sure that Dexter was the man she thought he was. He told her he was a drug addict and she had believed him. She sent him to NA meetings and that's where he met Lila. He cheated on her with Lila. She had almost lost Dexter then; but in the end he had chosen her. He chose to be with her.

He had married her.

Their marriage wasn't always easy. Dexter was a good man but a difficult one. She could never understand why he always seemed so distant; so far away. His friendship with Miguel Prado only made things worse. Rita had thought Miguel was a good man when they had first met. It was only later that she started to suspect he wasn't such a good man. Now she knew the truth. Miguel had been like Dexter but without the code.

The Rules of Harry.

How to raise a serial killer in five easy steps.

Dexter's father had known; had always known that his son was different and tried to protect him. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. A father training his son on how to be a successful serial killer; that just sounded wrong to her. Then again; she had witnessed what he had become and it had made her feel something she had never felt before.

She wasn't repulsed at the idea of Dexter killing people; especially when he told her about the people he killed. It had been part of his father's code. Murderers. He killed other killers; there was something poetic in it. She thought about Cody. What would she do if he turned out to be like Dexter? Would she hurt or help him? Would she protect him or turn in him. Would she put him away for his and the worlds good?

Harry had done the best he could, she was sure of that. He had given Dexter love and affection, even if he had done great harm to him as well. Dexter told her that his father had called the thing inside of him a monster on several occasions and Rita hated him for that. Dexter wasn't a monster. She had known monsters in her life and Dexter wasn't one. If anything it was Harry that was the monster. He had built up Dexter to be a killer and then killed himself leaving him alone. He had created Dexter and then left him.

That was something Rita could never see herself doing. Rita knew she had a choice to make. She could pretend it never happened and let Dexter go back to what he did. She loved him and knew deep down inside that he would protect her the best he could. She had no intention of turning him in; she knew that much. It would kill his sister and Debra was family as well. She could also ask him to stop, but she wasn't sure if Dexter could stop. She didn't know if it was in him to stop; even for her.

Then there was the red. Rita closed her eyes and saw it in the back of her mind. In the end it was the red that confused her the most. She knew she could ignore it like she had ignored a lot of things in her life. She could pretend that she didn't want to see it again. She had ignored the bad things in the world for far too long. She had aloud the bad things to hurt her. Now it was time for something else. Dexter had left it up to her. She knew he expected her to call the police but she told him she wouldn't and she meant it. She just didn't quite know where to go from here she just wanted to go there with Dexter.

Bringing Dexter into her life had been the right chose so maybe now it was time for Dexter to bring her into his.

Rita smiled as she closed her eyes and dreamed about the red.


	3. Chapter 3

Listening to Dexter tell the story of his life had been difficult. Rita knew that telling it had been difficult as well. Just listening to the way Dexter told the story convinced her of that. This was a story that he was never supposed to tell; that no one was supposed to hear; ever. However Dexter told it and Rita listened.

He told her about how he had witnessed the death of his mother; his real mother and how Harry had been the one to rescue him from the storage container. Rita had been horrified when he told her he had been in there with his dead mother for days sitting in her blood. He told her about his brother. A brother she had apparently met and who had dated his sister. A man who as a boy, had been trapped in the storage container with him and had become a serial killer himself, a serial killer called the Ice Truck Killer.

Dexter told her about how he framed Paul and why he did it. He told her about why he fell for Lila. He said it was never love, because he still believed he wasn't capable of the emotion, but something else. She saw behind the mask he wore and didn't flinch. He thought they were the same. He liked that. He didn't realize how dangerous she really was. He never expected her to go all fatal attraction on him. Dexter told her he killed Lila. Rita couldn't help being relieved at that. Lila had tried to kill her children and that wasn't something she would ever forgive and Lila coming back was something she had been fearful of. That was one of the reasons they had moved.

Dexter told her about trying to frame Detective Doakes for his murders. Apparently Dexter was the Bay Harbor Butcher; however he was adamant of the fact that he hadn't murdered Doakes and Rita believed him. Dexter was a man with a code; a code that was drummed into him since childhood. It didn't matter that Doakes was a threat he didn't fit the code and Dexter couldn't kill him. It had been Lila who had killed him in the end and had inadvertently saved Dexter. Rita wasn't sure what to think about that. Her anger about what happened between Dexter and Lila was still raw even now, finding out that Lila had saved Dexter's life even for her own selfish reasons made Rita feel a little less anger towards her; just a little.

He told her about The Prado family and what he had done to them. How he had systematically destroyed them. It was funny in a way the guilt Dexter felt for that. He ruined an entire family because he had killed the wrong man; he had mistakenly broken the code. He had killed an innocent man. That's how it had started. That's why he had started the friendship with Miguel Prado. After all what was a little murder between friends? Things had snowballed from there. Soon he had infected Miguel and had nearly driven his brother Ramon insane with rage. Of the three brothers only Romon remained; although his life was in ruins all because the youngest had met Dexter Morgan on a dark night.

Trinity was the most disconcerting to Rita. Arthur Mitchell that had been the name of the man she had witnessed Dexter kill. When Dexter had begun to talk about him she could have sworn she was once again standing in the cold dark room again watching Dexter at work. She could see the man lying on the table bleeding. She could see the red. She could smell it. She was so lost in the memory she almost missed what Dexter said.

"I thought if he could have it all I could as well."

"What do you mean?" Rita asked.

"I was always told that I couldn't have it all. The family, the job, the Dark passenger, but he did."

"And you wanted to know how." Rita said more then asked, "Then why did you kill him?"

"He got it by torturing his family." Dexter paused, "He got it by making their lives Hell."

"And you're not him."

"No." Dexter said almost sadly.

"Dexter, it's a good thing." Rita paused and took his hand, "Whatever good or bad Harry did to you he gave you something precious, he gave you a code to live by; maybe it has damned you but it has also saved you. "

"I can't have it all can I?"

"Why not?" Rita asked. "Maybe we both can."

And Rita had meant it. It had taken her a little while to figure it out. That first morning after Dexter had told her his story things had been awkward between them. Dexter had expected her to go to the police; to turn him in because that's what Harry had always told him would happen if his secret had ever gotten out but Rita didn't want to go to the police. She wanted something else it just took her a little while to figure out what.

And when she did she realized that Harry had been very wrong about Dexter. He could have it all. The darkness in him was more then just a passenger that went along for the ride; it was part of who he was. It had needs; he had needs. He needed someone to be there for him. Someone to love him not in spite of who he was but because of it. He needed someone to be there. He needed someone to look into the depths of him and not be driven crazy by it. He needed someone to see the monster in him and stay.

He needed more then just a wife.

He needed a partner.


	4. Chapter 4

She had nearly ruined everything in a moment of anger. Later she would wonder if the anger; burning, consuming, fiery anger had been there all along. Had it been there since she was a child being put down by her mother at every opportunity or had Paul beat it into her? Was the red hot anger she felt something that had seeped into her when she saw that dead man lying on the table bleeding or had it been there waiting patiently for an opportunity to strike; to stake claim?

Did she have her own Dark Passenger?

Had it been whispering to her all along and she had just ignored it? Had she allowed her mother's cruel words, Paul's cruel fists to beat it into submission? Whatever the answer was; it was out now singing, laughing, whispering in her ear. It wanted the red.

It wanted it bad.

Every day that passed Rita felt her insides tingle with anticipation. When Dexter was gone she closed her eyes and pictured what he was doing; at least at night. During the day he went to work like normal and she took care of the kids. Nothing had changed between them and Rita was determined to make sure that nothing did. Everything needed to stay normal; at least on the outside.

When Dexter left at night; the only difference was that now she knew where he was going. He didn't lie to her anymore. She had walked in on him researching one of his kills and he had tried to make an excuse. The old Rita would have let him. The new one wanted, the Rita she was becoming wanted, too much to be a part of his life; every aspect of it and she knew that this was the first step.

She helped him research. The Code of Harry needed to be obeyed, that was the important thing and one of the biggest rules was to be sure. If there was any doubt; any at all that the man they were researching was not a killer Dexter needed to move on; but Rita was starting to figure out that her husband had a nose for these things. Like knew like as the saying went; and he was seldom wrong. Rita felt strangely proud of that.

Killing innocent people was never allowed. Rita had learned pretty quickly that Dexter always took the time to make sure he had the right person. He was even more careful that he was prepared. Rita remembered that there had been a whole lot of what looked like saran rap around when she had watched Dexter kill Trinity, and now she knew why. Cleaning up the scene was a part of Dexter's process; part of his ritual. It helped him avoid getting caught.

Dexter never invited her along on his excursions; whether it was stalking his prey or actually killing them and Rita was starting to get antsy. That was the only explanation she was able to come up with later when she was staring at Dexter with a crowbar in her hand.

She had seen it almost immediately. She wasn't exactly sure why, but she saw it. She thought maybe it was because of the help she had been giving Dexter; little as it was, but now she was seeing thing; sharks in the water. She was becoming one; a shark, and she smelt blood.

He was too close to Cody.

He was looking at Cody too much.

He touched Cody too many times seemly friendly as it was.

He was a shark.

Rita knew it; she was sure of it. What she wasn't sure of is where she got that crowbar from; and how she waited until he entered the men's bathroom. She went in perfectly willing to lie and do some dumb stupid blonde girl thing if she got caught but no one was in the bathroom but the man. She waited in a corner for him. She waited as the darkness that had been growing inside of her whispered joyfully in her ear.

She didn't see Dexter until he had pulled her out of the bathroom. She wanted to fight him; to scream. This was her kill. He had no right. He was hers. Instead she watched silently as the man walked out of the bathroom and back to the jungle gym. That's when Rita remembered she had left Cody playing there.

"He's not there." Dexter said simply.

"You know what he is?" Rita asked angrily.

"Yes."

"Then why didn't you let me?"

"Killing must serve a purpose; otherwise it's just plain murder."

"And taking a child molester off the street isn't serving a purpose?"

"We don't know that for sure."

"Damn it Dexter, yes we do. Don't you feel it?"

"But we need to be sure."

"We?"

Rita watched Dexter. He didn't speak for a long moment. She saw his face change. He told her that he was incapable of human emotion but she didn't believe him. He felt; he just felt differently then most people. He was capable of emotions he just kept them at a distance for his own safety. His Dark Passenger took over so much of his life it left little room for human emotion. However she saw him with the kids. She saw him with his sister. She saw how he treated her. He loved her. She was sure of it.

"Yes, we."


	5. Chapter 5

Tonight was the night.

It was going to happen.

It had to happen.

Rita smiled as she looked over at Dexter who was driving through the town of Miami. She had the sudden urge to take his hand so she did. He looked at her surprised but he smiled. He knew what she was feeling. He felt the same way.

Tonight was the night.

They had planned everything down to the last detail. It was part of the ritual; the wonderful calming ritual. She had always enjoyed helping Dexter research his kills but this time it was different. Rita felt it in her bones. Her blood was buzzing with anticipation for tonight.

Dexter of course had tried to talk her out of it. When they had gotten back from the park he had tried to convince her that this wasn't her. She wasn't like him. She wasn't a killer but he had known. He had known for awhile now. Something had changed inside of her. She was evolving. He tried to blame himself but it wasn't his fault and she told him as much. Something dark had been growing deep down inside of her for such a long time she just didn't know what it was until she had met Dexter.

So he helped her research. He trained her for what was about to come. It had been daunting in a way; the knowledge he was giving her. He was teaching her to be an effective killer; like him. He was making her in his image.

And that's exactly what she wanted.

She knew why the others had failed. Why they had failed him. Dexter both was and wasn't like other serial killers. Most had no role model to teach them. Most had no role models to teach them how to be; much of anything. Most grew up to hate their parents; Dexter admired his. He loved his adoptive family with a fierceness that he didn't quite understand. Rita understood though; she loved her family the same way and Dexter was a part of that family.

Dexter had been taught how to be a serial killer by a police officer. A man with a conscience had raised Dexter; and although he had no discernable conscience of his own the Code of Harry could be seen as one. It was conscience by proxy and when the others he had tried to train had broken the code it had disappointed Dexter greatly.

And Dexter was a man who didn't take disappointment well.

Rita was determined to follow the code.

Not just because she had to but because she understood it.

She believed in it.

And she believed in Dexter.

Together they had researched the man they had seen in the park. The man who had made Rita's blood boil. The irony of his name being Paul didn't escape her. It fit almost too well. They had quickly discovered that he had already done time for child molestation. Rita so very much wanted him to be the one.

However he wasn't a killer.

Dexter was uncomfortable with killing someone who wasn't a killer. He had told her about the child molester he had killed in a moment of rage when he had followed him to his house. Apparently Dexter had seen him with pictures of Astor in a bathing suit. Rage was an interesting emotion. One that Rita was only beginning to understand.

In the end they decided to follow him for a few days if nothing came of it then they would move on. Dexter promised to let her kill the next one no matter who he was. Then one night they followed him to his grave sites.

Apparently he hadn't enjoyed prison and started killing the children he had molested so that way they couldn't testify against him. This little fact put him back in the game. It was going to happen.

Rita could feel it.

Finally the day came. They had convinced Debra to watch the kids while they went out on a date night. It wasn't exactly a lie; they just didn't tell her what kind of date night they were planning.

This was a very special kind of date.

A date that involved a child molester name Paul.

..........................................

"Who are you?" Paul said as he woke up in the cold dark shack.

"Don't you recognize this place?" Rita smiled at him. Dexter had remained in the darkness. They had planned it that way. This was about Rita and her Dark Passenger. If things got out of hand then he would get involved,. Until then he would just watch. "Isn't this where you bring your conquests?"

Rita walked over to the swinging marker board that held the pictures of four young boys who were all Cody's age. They had all been killed by this man. Dexter and she had found the bodies. He had just dumped them like trash.

"No, it wasn't me." He tried to plead.

"Yes it was." Rita walked over to him and smiled brightly from above, "It was you. Neither one of us would be here if it wasn't. The cops couldn't pin anything on you but we both know it was you."

"I'm sorry." He paused crying now, "I couldn't help it."

"You killed them." Rita said more then asked.

"Yes. Please let me go."

"No." Rita took the knife from the table next to them.

"Oh God." The man cried, "Please don't."

"Is that what they said?" Rita paused, "Did you stop?"

With that she plunged the knife into where she thought the man's heart would be.

The red.

The beautiful, magnificent sticky red.

There was more of it then she thought there would be. Dexter had given her what appeared to be a raincoat to wear and now she understood why. She knew Dexter had never been a boy scout but now she thought he might have missed his calling. He was after all always prepared.

The red continued to flow from the man.

The wonderful red.

She stared at it for a long moment and felt something inside of her.

It calmed.

It stopped.

For the first time since she could remember it all stopped. The worry, the self doubt, the pain, it all stopped and she felt….everything.

"How do you feel?" Dexter stepped out of the shadows.

"I feel…" Rita didn't have the words.

"I know." Dexter understood.

"What happens now?"

Rita had the urge to take a trophy. Wasn't that what one in her situation did? She had just killed a man and she wanted…something to remember it by. She looked at Dexter and saw that he understood.

"Miguel wanted one too; I told him it wasn't a good idea." Dexter paused and went over to the gym bag they brought along and took out a box that held some blood slides, "Later he killed someone else and took a ring. This is what I take."

"Blood?" Rita asked.

"Yes." It made sense in a way. He was after all a blood spatter analyst. Who would think twice if they found him with blood slides? "You can take some if you want."

Did she want that? This was Dexter's thing but then again he was willing to share it with her and she really did want to have a trophy so she said yes and Dexter showed her how to take some blood; just a little and put it on the slide.

A trophy.

A reminder.

Something to remember her very first kill.

And it was just the first.

Just the beginning.

It was going to happen again.


	6. Chapter 6

Both Rita and Dexter sat in Dexter's boat staring at the stars. Rita thought of how far she had come since meeting Dexter. She knew she should have been horrified at the things she had done but she wasn't; not even a little. Rita felt at peace.

After she had killed the child molester named Paul, she hadn't been sure what to do next. She knew that Dexter disposed of the body by cutting it up. Killing was part of the ritual but so was cutting. It was all part of the ritual; a ritual that had kept him safe for years.

Dexter had silently handed her a bone saw and for a brief second she had faltered. This was the part of the ritual that made her a little uneasy. However it needed to be done; and in the end doing it proved far easier then she thought it would. Dexter had helped her with this part. They had disposed of the body in six trash bags. She briefly wondered if the makers of these trash bags had intended them to be used this way.

After they had finished cleaning up the old shack they had driven silently to Dexter's boat. He had told her that he had dumped the bodies into the ocean. Finding out that he was the Bay Harbor Butcher had been a little freaky at first but although he hated the moniker it seemed to fit him.

After they dumped the trash bags they had continued in the boat a few miles further out and had anchored the boat. Rita brought out some sandwiches she had packed as part of their "date night." No point in actually lying to Debra, they could actually have the date they had told her about. A few hours alone on Dexter's boat.

"You are two of the most boring people I know." Debra had laughed when Rita had told her they had planned to spend the night on Dexter's boat.

They didn't actually plan to spend the whole night there, just a few hours. Then they would head back to their little house in suburbia and continue to live their normal lives just like always.

Nothing really had changed.

Dexter smiled at her as he ate his sandwich. It was strange in a way, how after all this she finally understood him. She finally truly knew the man she had married.

"So how long do we have?" Rita smiled seductively at her husband.

"We have time." Dexter smiled back and made his way to her.

As they kissed she knew he was right. They had several things that still needed to be worked out in their new relationship. Dexter had needs that were constant in their insistence. Rita's own needs were like a whisper in her ear; she could ignore them for awhile.

But they had all the time in the world to figure it out.

Rita smiled into Dexter as he began removing her shirt. Whatever they decided in the end on how to work their new relationship would be fine with her. The truth was the only undeniable need she had was Dexter.

To know Dexter.

To see Dexter.

And now she did.

She knew Dexter better then anyone else ever did. Better then even his own father who had called him a monster and had killed himself when he had realized what he had created. He was strong in a lot of ways; but he was also weak.

He would never approve of what Dexter had become.

Even if what Dexter had become was human after-all.

She still wasn't sure what she felt about Harry. Sometimes she wished she had met the man before he died. She wasn't exactly sure if she would hug him or punch him in the nose. She understood why Dexter loved him so much though, now more then ever. She had agreed to name their son Harrison because of Dexter. It was the last tribute he could give to the man he thought saved him; but it wasn't really Harry that had saved him.

Dexter had saved himself. He saved himself by playing with the code making it his. By adding and deleting things on it that didn't work and by occasionally making mistakes. Sometime horrible tragic mistakes. Rita was determined to never be one of those mistakes.

She wanted so very much to make Dexter proud of her. To be everything he needed in a wife and partner. To be the person that Dexter confided in.

As the two of them made love on Dexter's boat Rita wondered what Harry would say about the new change of events; but really she already knew.

Harry would never approve.

Because he might have trained Dexter but he never approved of him. He never understood the need. The red. The red that consumed him.

Rita did.

As Dexter sunk into her she opened her eyes and looked up at what was a full moon. The wonderful full moon that was shining a light through the darkness on to them as they made love.

Harry would never approve.


End file.
